Von der Leyen announces her candidacy to repeat as head of the European Commission

The president of the European Commission, the German conservative Ursula von der Leyen, aspires to renew her mandate at the head of the Community Executive after the European elections next June, as she communicated this Monday to her party colleagues at a meeting in Berlin of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

"It is a very conscious and well-thought-out decision. I would like to run for a second term and I am very grateful to the CDU for proposing me today as the main candidate for the European Commission," Von der Leyen said at a press conference in Berlin, accompanied by the leader of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, to stage the endorsement of his party.

In her first speech as a candidate, Von der Leyen stressed that her "passion for Europe has grown", insisted that she believes "firmly" in the European Union and highlighted that Europe is her "home".

Despite this Monday's announcement, Von der Leyen will have to wait until the EPP Congress in March in Bucharest for the support of her European political family to be formalized, although the deadline for the presentation of alternative candidacies runs out this week. without other names being on the table.

The former German Defense Minister thus makes official her candidacy to be head of the list of the European People's Party (EPP) in the elections that will be held throughout the European Union between June 6 and 9 (Sunday the 9th in Spain).

The re-election of Von der Leyen as head of the Community Executive will depend on the decision of the heads of State and Government of the EU, who after the results of the European elections will negotiate the distribution of the bloc's senior positions, including the presidency of the Commission. , but also that of the European Council and the European Parliament. Her appointment also requires the approval of the European Parliament, whose plenary session approved her appointment in 2019 by a narrow margin.

Von der Leyen, a 65-year-old doctor by training, became the first woman to hold the presidency of the European Commission almost five years ago and since then has had to face critical moments such as coordinating the response of the Twenty-seven to the pandemic. of coronavirus or supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion.

In this time he has been able to gain support among the ranks of other political groups, including the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, who last summer stated in a talk with journalists that he could count on their support if the presidency of the Commission were to return. fall into the hands of the EPP.

However, his early trip to Israel after the Hamas attacks on October 7, despite not having powers in foreign policy and the different sensitivities among the 27, or his recent lukewarmness when defending the Green Pact - flagship of his first term-- in the face of rural protests have damaged his consensus profile.

In the months remaining until the elections to the European Parliament in June, Von der Leyen will have to be careful to dissociate her institutional role as president of the Community Executive from that of a candidate, in accordance with the rules of the code of conduct that the College of Conduct itself recently reviewed. Commissioners that he presides to clarify the rules in the electoral campaign.

Until now, commissioners have had to take temporary unpaid leave when they have run as candidates in other campaigns, for example the vice president for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, in the Dutch elections or the vice president for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, who resumed his duties after unsuccessfully challenging Nadia Calviño for the European Investment Bank (EIB).

This review allows the commissioners not to have to leave their European position while campaigning if they are candidates for the European elections, but as long as they meet precise conditions to separate their institutional profiles from the political ones.

Thus, for example, Von der Leyen will not be able to use community resources to defend her candidacy - nor her official accounts on social networks - and must guarantee her continuity in institutional affairs, for example by attending Council meetings or parliamentary sessions.